Cong compromising national security, charges Jaitley

New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday hit back at the Congress over the Rafale deal, accusing it of "seriously compromising" country's security by seeking details of armaments purchased along with the aircraft.

He also advised Congress chief Rahul Gandhi to "learn" from former defence minister Pranab Mukherjee "lessons on national security."

"Your party was stigmatised when you were in government because of an allegation of corruption. Now the new act is, let us manufacture an allegation of corruption against the NDA. So when you couldn't find anything, you said please disclose the price of the Rafale deal," Jaitley said while replying to the debate on the budget.

"I charge the Congress of seriously compromising India's security...Mr Modi has run a clean government for last 4 years, so let us manufacturer a crisis, let us manufacture an issue.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday continued his attack on the government over the Rafale aircraft deal and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not answering his questions because there was something "fishy" in it.

Referring to Modi's speeches in Parliament yesterday, he told reporters that it was clear that the prime minister was not interested in answering "fundamental questions".

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, he said, had first announced that she would inform the nation about the cost of purchasing Rafale aircraft but was now saying she could not do so as it was a state secret.

"Which of her two statements are correct," he asked.

Gandhi said he had also posed three questions to Modi.

These included the aircraft's cost and "handing over" the deal to a businessman after "snatching" it from a public undertaking.